OG12th -22-121

luckyhaohuan

Jon Clark’s study of the effect of the
modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange
maintenance work and workers is a solid
contribution to a debate that encompasses two
lively issues in the history and sociology of
technology: technological determinism and social
constructivism.


Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a
technology have a decisive infl uence on job skills
and work organization. Put more strongly,
technology can be a primary determinant of social
and managerial organization. Clark believes this
possibility has been obscured by the recent
sociological fashion, exemplifi ed by Braverman’s
analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery
refl ects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate to the
manager’s desire to wrest control of the labor
process from the workers. Technological change is
construed as the outcome of negotiations among
interested parties who seek to incorporate their own
interests into the design and confi guration of the
machinery. This position represents the new
mainstream called social constructivism.


The constructivists gain acceptance by
misrepresenting technological determinism:
technological determinists are supposed to believe,
for example, that machinery imposes appropriate
forms of order on society. The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to view technology
as existing outside society, capable of directly
infl uencing skills and work organization.


Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists
by both theoretical and empirical arguments.
Theoretically he defi nes “technology” in terms of
relationships between social and technical variables.
Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to
cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is
just scrap unless it is organized functionally and
supported by appropriate systems of operation and
maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how
a change at the telephone exchange from
maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches
to semielectronic switching systems altered work
tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration,
and organization of workers. Some changes Clark
attributes to the particular way management and
labor unions negotiated the introduction of the
technology, whereas others are seen as arising from

the capabilities and nature of the technology itself.
Thus Clark helps answer the question: “When is
social choice decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more important?”



121. Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is supported by information in the passage?
(A) The new technology reduced the role of managers in labor negotiations.
(B) The modernization was implemented without the consent of the employees directly affected by it.
(C) The modernization had an impact that went significantly beyond maintenance routines.
(D) Some of the maintenance workers felt victimized by the new technology.
(E) The modernization gave credence to the view of  advocates of social constructivism.

用排除法选出了正确答案C，但是不是很理解为什么beyond maintenance routines?

OG 解释如下：

Supporting ideas
Th is question requires recognizing information
contained in the passage. Th e passage states in the
fi rst paragraph that Clark’s study focused on the
modernization of a telephone exchange and the
eff ect this had on maintenance work and workers.
After describing Braverman’s analysis in the
second paragraph as being at odds with Clark’s
views, the passage discusses Clark’s views in more
detail in the fi nal paragraph. As part of this
discussion, the passage notes that Clark shows
how a change from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semielectronic switching
systems at the telephone exchange altered work
tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration,
and organization of workers (lines 41–46). Thus,
the passage shows that the modernization of the
telephone exchange affected much more than
maintenance routines.


A Th e passage does not discuss whether new
technology reduces the role of managers in
labor negotiations.
B Th e passage does not discuss the role of
employee consent in the modernization of
the telephone exchange.
C Correct. Th e passage states that the
modernization of the telephone exchange
aff ected tasks, skills, training,
administration, and the organization of
workers.
D Th e passage does not suggest that
maintenance workers felt victimized by the
modernization of the telephone exchange.
E Th e passage describes modernization as a
fact viewable from a perspective of social
constructivism or technological
determinism, but that does not in itself
support either view.


麻烦大牛解释一下红体部分吧，尤其是thus是从何而来吧。谢谢

wyw1018

maintenance routines的意思是指: 维护的常规性工作

而文中提到modernization 已经 altered work tasks, skills, training

opportunities, administration, and organization of workers
已经远远超越了(beyond)常规性工作的范畴.

因此(Thus),选C

henryest

顶。。。求哪位高手翻译下全文吧。。。怎么没有翻译呢。。。呜呜。。实在是看不懂。。。纠结。。。

xiaoxiaoxxliu

建议把第一段忽略然后慢慢重读全文。文章是有些恶心的，而且比较难懂
因为中国公司基本不会考虑the social effects of implementation of
technology, 所以在我们脑海里完全没这个概念

gui5910667

别太在意了 OG-12里好几篇文科文章都是作者想到哪里写到哪里的烂文，本身逻辑性几乎都没有，考试中心稍微修改了一下拿出来做考试文章了
但是一般这种文章题目都不会太难。当然楼主问的那个问题也的确蛮恶心的，实在很难说work tasks, skills, training...就代表了routines job
responsibility.
个人经验，对于GMAT文科类文章千万别抱着工科学生思维去做，会做死的，事实上你和文科学生多接触接触看看他们开会讨论问题是什么样子就知道写出这种文章是很正常的。。。主要还是找出题点，主题题，作者态度题，反驳一样东西是靠什么，举例(and,逗号并列)必有细节题抓着来做。这篇文章的题目，即使没看懂文章或者根本不看就直接做题， 121 122 123 124 125 127也都是大致猜得出正确答案的，126就是寻找前面那个misrepresenting，122有可能争议的选项是BD，但是D没有提到过，120只有可能是CE，其他都是脑残选项，E原文中没有提到过

winnielxx

这篇文章烂是烂在最后一段 几个例子和说明都说的不明不白的 搞不清楚具体每一句话是支持还是反对作者本人的观点，例子也都是不痛不痒没有具体展开一笔带过的

gui5910667

不管我们怎么文章写得不好，或者题出的不好，人家就是这么写了，我们就要适应并且很好的完成这些题目。对于做阅读我认为记忆力一定要好，对新出现的名词要迅速记住并且搞清各个之间的关系，包括在文中起什么作用。